Steam on the Harbour: Darling Harbour's working trains

Steam on the Harbour is a documentary showcasing Darling Harbour as a busy railway goods yard, long before it became one of Sydney's main destinations for recreation and entertainment. It features footage shot by transport enthusiast and cinematographer Roger McKenzie and his friend Bernie Kent in the 1960s and 70s.
More about the Roger McKenzie collection: www.nfsa.gov.a...

[@chuckcarter7864]

It’s so sad that there is no real recognition of the importance of Darling Harbour as a transport hub . It was just demolished for a bloody shopping centre .

[@michaelrobertson9642]

As a sixties' boy, my father took me with him in his truck to deliver parcels to wagons in the sheds - north, south, east and west sheds I think they were called. Each wagon had the name of its designated NSW country town, in chalked signage on the side. Wagons, like lost sheep, were shunted about the yards: a case of get out of the way. As others have noted - OHS ( WHS)...in your dreams! Disputes? - blokes just settled them with fists according to my father. One day Dad ( a good boxer) fought a fellow truck driver who jumped the delivery queue. The harbourside location, noise, smoke, smells, the edgy danger - and no doubt the characters who worked there - speak to another era. When I saw the unappealing ( transient) architecture, the soulless concrete, the tacky flyovers of the new Darling Harbour, I thought they reflect the mediocre politicians of the day. I felt the people of Sydney had lost something of value and dignity: the vitality of a working harbour.

[@rolfehartley]

What a wonderful film! And remember, no hi-vis vests, no hard hats, no marked or signalled level crossings; I bet no one ever wrote a Safe Work Method Statement or did a risk assessment. Toolbox meetings were to eat your smoko and drink your billy tea!

[@flamingfrancis]

There's no denying these NFSA docos are a wonderful record of our history. Thanks for the efforts.

[@gm16v149]

When I emigrated to Australia from England in 1970 I was quite shocked to see these museum pieces still operating! Sydney was definitely a much different city then compared to nowadays.

[@gregbassace1]

I started my Railway career at Darling Island in April 1975, just three years after the 19’s were gone from the Harbourside. Left there in 1979 after qualifying as a Car & Wagon Examiner to work the next 38 years in various depots around Sydney, a working life I always enjoyed and will remember. Darling Harbour brought back many memories for me and this video took me back to where it all began. One of the best railway doco’s ever. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@johnd8892]

So much thanks to Roger McKenzie and his friend Bernie Kent for taking the high quality footage when it was considered ordinary. When shown to others interested in this aspect of history they are gobsmacked by the quality and professional choice of shots to tell the story now long gone. Amazed that they had not seen this before too, so a hidden gem. Thanks to NFSA for making this available to a wider audience.

[@bigbadwolf1966]

some of my earliest memories as a very young child were standing on pyrmont bridge, watching the steam trains shuffle wagons. that would have been the late 60's and early 70's so this is just a magical step back in time for me.

[@YesYesYoureRight]

17:33 Park Regis (block of flats; 45 stories high, rooftop laundromat and swimming pool, solarium. Built in 1967 and was the only such structure in the area (built on land owned previously by the Commonwealth Bank Castlereagh Street. (corner Park Street). Soon after (Before a major land ZONING change, 1973,) was the Water board building (sandstone colour) and the Sydney County Council of Electricity Supply, building (black) were both built. There are FEW photos anywhere in the world of Park Regis, standing alone, in that brief era, 1967 1972. Thanks for posting this great video, with its SUPPLIMENTARY information, Thank you old steam trains. del-boy London SW1P4AA

[@geoffreyrose1620]

I used to go to Darling Harbour to hire day labour to unload our wagons for Tattersall Brothers in the early 70s

[@davegoldspink5354]

What a brilliant little film it’s amazing how much Sydney and indeed the world has changed since then. Darling Harbour was always one of my favourite spots in Sydney and thanks to all the problems we’ve had here in Australia recently it’s been some time since I’ve visited. Last time I did the monorail was still running.

[@chaz1550]

What a transformation, was in Sydney earlier this year nearby. How much the area has changed and still changing. Well worth a visit. Hope to be back.

[@michaelnaisbitt1590]

some of these locos were 90 years old plus--------doubt if a diesel would last anywhere near this time great clip great memories

[@John900C]

I nearly screamed when I saw that shunter standing in the track as the engine buffered up at speed. There must have been lots of injuries and incidents.

[@steveamurray59]

Great Memories, Darling Harbour and Sydney Yard.

[@PaulLea]

Excellent historical footage🚂🚃🚃🤩👌

[@brendanmccreanor7046]

My Grandfather Herbert Norris was a Blacksmith at The workshop and my cousins where shunters. As a little boy in the late sixties early seventies I remember the stories at home of the Yard accidents with shunters. 2001 I found myself At Harbour Side writing policy and performing Security. Walking The goods line from the Sydney University provides a perspective.

[@MrSteve72]

Great to see old Sydney - I live not far from the Central Station Goods Line and walk it to Darling Harbour.

[@murraydavidson7295]

Grew up with this MAGIC ERROR in life.. GREAT MEMORIES & thanks for bringing back pictures I observed as a youngster living around Fassifern - Toronto Areas..

[@a9503128]

Awesome to see my neighbourhoods working history, all the old tracks and tunnels that are still here today

[@TrainLordJC]

Fantastic footage of a bygone era. Good quality. Thanks for posting.

[@robertlewis7237]

thank you for sharing the history of nsw railway

[@GRclass]

talk about bringing back memories excellent video

[@paulusintas8627]

THIS is SUPERB!! Really made my day. Thankyou

[@agems56]

Very well done railway documentary! Great foresight of the person who filmed so much of this going on at the time! Cheers from Calgary!

[@bethsheeba1198]

Love this video. I worked for the NSWGR during the time Darling Harbour was a working yard.

[@CGT867]

Excellent photography and production of a long gone era.

[@LolLol-xy4rh]

Do more like this with the Music bc I would love one on the fyansford quarry network

[@johnd8892]

Might be hard to find film of this quality. This was taken by a professional filmaker with professional film equipment and skills. Good enough skills to have a job as news editor at channel seven in Sydney.

[@TERRYBIGGENDEN]

Absolutely wonderful! Many of us remember the yard so well. It was one of the mostf fascinating and photogenic sights in Australia. So pleased and surpassed that this doo owas made and preserved±beautiful work.:-)

[@robweckert5689]

Great production. Well done.

[@brendanmarsh2195]

Dadaqqqqq

[@gregorybathurst7171]

im one of those kids from leichhardt ! by 1976 i also knew every inch of those lines the yards from pyrmont to Dulwich hill i have to apologise . ive thrown a million gap 60 gravel misiles at those trains & many detonators strapped on lines in rows of 15 .bolts with a det attached then thrown off the next bridge. for years this is where i played from 8/9 yrs it sure was fun

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

you are a legend buddy. reminds me of pink floyd "stand still laddie" earth is flat and unmovable. water at rest such as a frozen lake always forms a level surface. everytime. wish you were here man. #QUEENSLANDER

[@luke-ov9hj]

Aww shit then you would certainly know the cockroach tunnel ( near the summer hill flour mills). I was one of the brave that went all the way to it's end. I too grew up playing on the lines and walking the canal, and at its upper end, you had the 3 witches tunnels. Had to be bloody switched on though. Whenever they dewatered the pressure tunnel ( part of Sydneys water supply), it would absolutely gush into the canal and quickly turn it into a 3ft deep raging torrent. If it caught you, the best you would come away with were no shorts and multiple abrasions. I fortunately was an able climber, and could jump out in a hurry if it arrived without warning.

[@brentmcc6048]

Excellent

[@rescuepilot26]

Absolutely love this!

[@demurets]

Excellent production.

[@marvwatkins7029]

Amazingly old locos for the time. But if they still worked...

[@barryphillips7327]

Magnificent film of days gone by. There was quite a lot of steam in Australia, most locomotives were build or based on an English design. I have video series ''Steam in Australia'' vol 1--4 thankfully i have managed to save the tapes ( VHS ) before it was too late!! ( I think the original cassettes used were not great quality. )

[@daviddonaldson6541]

A terrific picture of Darling Harbour, and IMHO one of the best short films ever made in Australia - ISLAND SHUNTERS - is held in Lending Collection. Great as a study in the sociology of work, too.

[@brycenew]

From a production point of view you are comparing the incomparable Dave. Like passionfruit and cumquats mate

[@akoslumnitzer5262]

I loved watching this short documentary. I am also sad, that no 19-class steamers seem to have been preserved in working condition.

[@TheDaf95xf]

Fantastic viewing 🇬🇧

[@collinblack_60103-]

Thank you that was awesome. Really enjoyed the footage of steam and with rare footage of rare diesels. 🇦🇺✅🤠

[@hypercomms2001]

impressive..

[@YesYesYoureRight]

2:10 Yes, it went right next door to the Marks and Clarks (name: I think) It was changed use in 1969 to be Sydney Technical College. As a ten year old I'd always wondered why one couldn't "go" on that train, nor did I know were it went to. !!! 4:20 here is a train just about to go under Railway Square and exit adjacent to the Marcus Clark department store (later Tafe Tech college), Where typewriting classes were held for police officers and others.

[@peckelhaze6934]

Super quality and very interesting video.

[@ecksdee3145]

7:42 Health and safety? don't need it, watch me stand between a locomotive and some wagons

[@dankerthanclanker]

Bruh, fuck that.

[@adriankingston4338]

@@dankerthanclanker eat some concrete and harden up lad !

[@davegoldspink5354]

😂🤣😂 I started working at BHP steelworks Port Kembla in the 80s these fellas working on these trains would have got the same safety talk when I started “here’s your safety book and remember watch yourself and don’t fuckup because you’ll be dead”.

[@Jez3134]

At 0:21 you can see the flour mill, I'm pretty sure to this day you can still see the old signage as you drive into the CBD from the Anzac Bridge.

[@jamesgovett2501]

Noticed a few standard gauge Victorian Railways freight cars there too

[@robweckert5689]

So nice not to see any graffiti anywhere on these railway scenes.

[@adriankingston4338]

Spray cans probably didn't exist when this fottage was taken plus people were not the drifting snowflakes that they are today, they were too busy trying to work so they could eat.

[@jackforde4883]

Gosh I wish steam locomotives were still used in service

[@CalebsRailFilms]

Fantastic footage! Didn’t realise you guys had a new KZbin Channel and guess what? You’ve got a new subscriber! Beautiful production by far! This footage could be very useful to me in the long run, a really useful supply of visual information to use in railway modelling & miniature engineering. I visited Darling Harbour in 2009 and always wanted to know more about the railway history of this once bustling hub for the railways. I’ve watched every moment of this great video and I have to say well done to you all! As Mum always says to me, I should’ve been born in this era lol 😆. Imagine if we had DSLRs and 4K video cameras back in those days, oh Lordy lord it would’ve been fantastic! Love hearing the old stories from the railway workers in these days, I usually talk to these types of blokes for hours lol 😂. I know it’s sad isn’t!? Haha 😆. Much more interesting talking to these blokes rather then some of my generation I must say. Anyway great production by far. All the best for this new channel. Cheers Caleb

[@idgat2256]

At 2:17 obviously running tender-first, you can see the coal fall off the tender just as it exits the tunnel

[@philipm1009]

In Ireland there was a railway called Darlington railway

[@transformationinternationa6164]

at 3.09 there is a guard van or brake van going past loose / unhooked? explained at 8 mins letting wagons move under their own momentum into place. Obviously this was common practice - is it done much today? I imagine it is against WHS now.

[@YesYesYoureRight]

13:19 The old map says Elizabeth Bay, but it is not on newer maps. only the two other bays Jones and the other one. There is a Zebra Restaurant where Harris Street met and still meets the bay. Where Elizabeth Bay was once. (maybe the change was made so Real Estate Agents don't get people confused when they're buying flats in the both Elizabeth Bay areas. Have A Nice Day.

[@YesYesYoureRight]

13:05 here comes a Valiant, my old car.

[@hughmcinally907]

This footage is absolutely priceless. Another age in so many different ways. Hope no WHS officers see it, they'll need counselling. Wonder how all these blokes survived - common sense perhaps?

[@thatonec_set3730]

Definitely common sense, they always were taught common sense back then. Nearly straight after they were born. So then they could succeed in life and not die.

[@sergeant5848]

@@thatonec_set3730 Except for that one bloke seen standing in the middle of two coupling wagons. I'd expect many workers met their demise that way. Pretty sure the handbooks prohibited that kind of behaviour!

[@gregorybathurst7171]

that last coment then reaction between the two engineers. id love to do 1 more shift down here. reply.. ill come and fire for you , . ok but ill fire for uou , your senior

[@dannyhowell2027]

Hi what year was this

[@johnd8892]

Filmed over several years from the late sixties to early seventies with new recent colour extras.

[@cherylpurdue888]

Where are stream engines now?

[@neilforbes416]

The goods line to, or near Dulwych Hill is now part of Sydney's modern *TRAMWAY!* Light Rail is a phony pretentious term. (1:43)

[@Mediawatcher2023]

@Neil Forbes that's very *INTERESTING*

[@trackdusty]

Pity there was no original commentary.

[@YesYesYoureRight]

13:56 The train driver there certainly has tight trousers (pants) on driving that train. Is there something about this article / story that we are not being told ?

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

smoke on the water.

[@jameselliott1461]

Closed captions need to be redone. Wrong words in a lot of place (sightings instead of sidings, etc). And Aussie spelling too.

[@nfsaaust]

Hi James. The captions in this video have been automatically generated by KZbin.

[@daverave9483]

Is this newly created and presented (c) 2016 from old footage or previously released ?

[@nfsaaust]

All archival footage comes from Roger McKenzie's collection, which had never been available to the public. We created this documentary (including the interviews with former rail staff) in early 2016 for its premiere at the Sydney Film Festival.

[@daverave9483]

pro-labs.imdb.com/title/tt6218584

[@brycenew]

Excellent doco! Really informative and excellent footage. For someone who only arrived in Sydney in 1998 it's a great insight into how things were. Thanks for producing this and posting it here :)

[@daviddonaldson6541]

Commentary in this film is REMORSELESS! And music irrelevant. See ISLAND SHUNTERS, people!

[@brycenew]

Mute the sound mate. It's that easy. Well, for some...

[@shuntermusic154]

Thanks David, But I loved it too. I think it makes a great pairing with Island Shunters. A few of the faces in this video seem familiar from that era. Tim Woolmer producer Island Shunters

[@TheCruizer21]

When I started work in 1976 at Henderson Springs, I went with the driver a number of times to deliver springs at Darling Harbor goods yard & remember as a kid Dad driving across Pymont Bridge as that was the main route into town!

[@rjl110919581]

thank you for share great detail video as a long time go stream engine in Sydney working

[@warrior3456_]

Nice film

[@jet936]

Superb video.

[@wideyxyz2271]

Most enjoyable. Thank You.

[@darylcheshire1618]

I saw in an ABC documentary a comment from a young shunter they they were pressed into cutting corners but if there was an incident, the Department threw the book at you.

[@johnd8892]

Not from the ABC but SBS. On KZbin as Island Shunters.

[@johnd8892]

Island Shunters : kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4azn6ecdsaJiLc This should also be archived by the NFSA.

[@colinwilkie2279]

See all the smoke. Australia & the has never been cleaner, eg not smog or smoke in the air compared to those days. If the greenery's or the far lift were around in those days they'd die from shock horror at all the smoke in air.